Pupils punished by 'political' grades scandal

Less able GCSE students are being punished with lower grades than they deserve to compensate for the high amount of A grades, a Mail online investigation can reveal.

As today's GCSE results show a widening gulf between the best and worst performers, our investigation has discovered that middle-ranking pupils are increasingly downgraded to avoid accusations that exams are being made ever-easier.

Pupils achieving the all-important C grade - the benchmark required to take A-levels and the grade most employers regard as a 'pass' - are often downgraded to a D by examination boards so that fixed quotas of grades are met, regardless of the pupil's ability.

The marking shambles makes a mockery of the grading system - making it impossible for universities and employers to compare pupils from year-to-year.

Borderline grades

"The biggest worry is the C and D grades," reveals an exam marker and senior school teacher who cannot be named through fear of career reprisals. "I could have given a student a C grade in an exam, but they will eventually get a D."

"They change the boundaries depending on how many kids have scored that number of points. If lots of children are getting a C in their exams, the examination boards will give some of them a D.

"It happens every year and the reasons are mostly political."

Elaine McCurry, who has taught history and English for nearly 30 years, agrees that teachers and pupils are bewildered by the exam marking schemes. "The problem with today's exams is you don't know whether the examination boards are applying pass marks consistently."

"You can't say, as you could when I took my O-levels, that 50% is a pass. The marking schemes that the exam boards produce don't give percentages."

Disastrous grades

Rocketing performance in the top grades has led to criticism that GCSEs have become too easy for the brightest of students. It also means that grades below C will become increasingly worthless, making it even more disastrous for children who are unfairly downgraded to a D.

That sentiment is echoed by mature student Carole Chambers, 39, who is taking GCSE exams after first taking her 0-levels in 1981.

She said: "A D grade is a pass these days, but when I did my 0-level, a D was a fail."